Creative Juices

Creating the art pieces for the state fair got my creative juices going as I hoped. My goal for committing myself to the submissions was to use creativity to channel my grief from the death of my friend and to fill the time I had spent doing martial arts with him. It worked. I received 2 Honorable mentions.

So now I am wondering what would it take to win the categories I enter. I made it a point to get to the fair grounds to see the other entries to become inspired. So now I am on a mission to solve the colorfastness problems that I have with my preferred technique and well as to refine and develop my own style.

I work on gourds in the round. I have developed new techniques that are striking. I don't think I can draw or paint well enough to make a contribution in "the fine arts". I would love to take gourd work into the arena of fine arts even as Alfred Stieglitz took photography into the realm of fine arts.

I am playing with adding 3 dimensions but to me so far it looks like a cheap something made in china. I need other opinions and maybe a different technique or medium. I began working with negative space and came up with something stunning. Something I might consider marketing once I developed a handful of designs.

In any case, my creative juices are flowing and I am studying uses of negative space, printmaking, and batik to develop my style. It is fun. When my client load is down I have a direction to channel my efforts and creativity. Who knows what will become of it? At least, I will have some Christmas presents made.

Why do I love my life so much?
The surge of creative juices made manifest...